If the continental congress failed, and various independent states like New York, Virginia, South Carolina etc became powerful countries, is there any chance they'd get involved in the colonial game in Asia, Africa and Latin America? It seems to be the case that New York would have similar commercial interests to Great Britain, so wouldn't they start get involved in annexing places to protect their businesses?
Also, without the United States, would a push for decolonisation ever take off in the 20th Century? It seems like there would be no major power to tell Britain and France what to do.